Kurdish Iraqi security forces patrol a street in the northern oil city of Kirkuk on June 13, 2014, as jihadist militants push their offensive towards the capital Baghdad. The Iraqi government is bolstering Baghdad's defences as US President Barack Obama said he was exploring all options to save Iraq's security forces from collapse. AFP PHOTO / MARWAN IBRAHIM (Photo credit should read MARWAN IBRAHIM/AFP/Getty Images)

(credit: MARWAN IBRAHIM/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Chris Stigall talked with Ed Turzanski, the John Templeton Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Political Science Professor at LaSalle University, on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about political turmoil in Iraq as the radical Sunni Muslim group ISIS marches toward Baghdad.

Ed Turzanski

Turzanski blames President Obama for not staying on top of the situation after the U.S. completed the troop withdrawal in 2011.

“The Administration has seen things happening and thought if it averted its gaze, we wouldn’t have to be involved in any way, it would be someone else’s problem. So, the Arab Spring has given way to what we can call the ‘Jihad Summer.’ You see hot steaming messes across North Africa, Central Africa, Syria, right down through to Iraq,” he explained.

He believes Iraq would be in better shape today had we not withdrawn the troops over two years ago.

“We had won. Iraq was going through peaceful elections. They were going through a very difficult process to get on their feet, but in large part, the most consequential Arab Muslim state in the Middle East was taking a turn toward peaceful, democratic self-government, and then we walked away…Whenever we leave, bad things happen, and now it may be too late to get in militarily,” Turzanski stated.

Turzanski feels a coalition of nations is needed to solve this crisis, assuming it is not already too late.

“What we have to do is reach out to all of the friendly governments in the region and the ones who are in real trouble. Right now, Nouri Al-Maliki in Iraq wants to talk, wants to parlay. We have to take a very careful measure of what they want, do a serious quid-pro-quo…Weeks ago, they asked for air cover. We decided not to give it to them. Right now, in the short term, because of where things are, we may have to step back and just watch a blood bath in Iraq,” he said.

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Chris Stigall brings a contemporary brand of opinionated talk and humor to mornings on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT. Prior to his arrival in Philadelphia, Chris’s radio career began in Kansas City where he worked on-air ...